the b -side The Michigan Daily I michigandaily.com I Thursday, October 22, 2009 M . y4J ~U~L~\Et~U©E. weekend essentials Oct. 22 to Oct. 25 ON STAGE It's time to escape midterms ... with Shakespeare! The University Musical Society's production of Shakespeare's "Love's Labour's Lost" opens this week at the Power Center. The comedy details an all-too-famil- iar problem: A young king swears off women in favor of focusing on his studies. The show starts tonight and runs through Oct. 25. Tickets start at $18, available through www.ums.org. SCREENPLAY READING Tonight at 7 p.m. at UMMA's Helmut Stern Auditorium, the Screen Arts and Cultures department will hold a tribute reading of an unfilmed screen- play by SAC alumnus Matthew Reichl, who passed away this year from cancer. The Hop- wood Award-winning screenplay, "Ageless, Ohio," concerns a father and son who wander into a town permanently stuck in the 1950s. The event is hosted by Prof. Jim Burnstein. A WEEK IN THE LIFE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN MARCHING BAND BY CAROLYN KLARECKI DAILY TV/NEW MEDIA EDITOR ou see them every Football Saturday. The Big House erupts when they take the field. They perform as a flawless unit in which all individuals are constantly aware of where they are on the field, what their next move is and everything that's happening around them. They practice daily even in the harshest weather and undergo extensive training. They are some of the University's most talented students. And no, they're not on the football team. The Michigan Marching Band has been a crucial part of the University's fabric since 1896, and for many football fans, the band is just as important to the Big House expe- rience as the game. The band is collected, cohesive and professional when we see it on the field. But we all know that the complex halftime shows don't just happen with the wave of the drum major's baton. What goes into producing a new show each week? And how is the band so damn good? It all rests on the effort and dedication of its members. Anyone who lives south of Hill Street has probablyheard the MarchingBandbrazenly practicing every day. And anyone near Elbel Field at 4:45 p.m. on a weekday will hear the sound of drums pounding in unison while brassy scales grow louder and louder over thumping rhythms. Practice begins each day with a half hour of music rehearsal. The band members usually receive their show music several days before gameday so they have sufficient time to memorize their parts. During last Monday's practice, all 328 students, in the Marching Band stood in arched rows around the 50-yard line. The musicians stood attentively, watching the conductor for his signal. Band members brought their instruments to their lips in perfect unison to play a new song togeth- er for the first time. At first, the resulting music was good, but nothing spectacular. But by only the third run through, it sound- ed almost perfect. The music for the band's last show - an opera-themed routine for the Delaware State game - was musically intricate, and luckily the band had an unusually large amount of time (two weeks, instead of the typical one) to prepare for it. Even still, every show has to be memorized and per- formed while the band is in motion, adding a certain amount of difficulty to the perfor- mances. Because of this added performa- tive dimension, band members must have a great amount of dedication to learn the music off of the field so they can perform their choreographed parts well when they take the field. "(The students) are just so motivated to be in this band - they're just so positive about the energy they bring every day," said Scott Boerma, Director of Michigan Marching and Athletic Bands. "They bring the commitment to excellence; they bring the understanding of the tradition of this band that goes back to over a hundred years of tradition." "They're carrying on a legacy that came before them and they understand that and they take it very seriously," he added. Music is only half of what marching band is about. Drill - the actual marching and formations displayed on the field - takes up the rest of the practice. Between drill sets, the marching band looks like any other bunch of kids decked out in mostly maize and blue hoodies and sweatpants. They just happen to be carrying around trombones and saxophones. Once they hear the drum major's whistle, however, the band mem- bers chant in unison, raise their instru- ments and become a single, unified entity. The 275 members that march the half- time show trace the same path and play the same measures over and over until the for- mation exactly mirrors what was mapped out on paper. Graduate students and other students in leadership positions walk the practice field and correct those who are out of line while faculty members stand at the top of a tower overseeing the field and occa- sionally yelling out directions and remind- See MARCHING BAND, Page 4B PERFORMANCE Love sketch comedy? Then head on over to Mendelssohn Theatre tonight at 7 p.m. for "Live from Michigan ... It's Thursday Night!" The show will feature improvised live per- formances and short videos in the same vein as "Saturday Night Live." Campus performing groups The Friars and the Michi- gan Bhangra Team will perform, plus local Ann Arbor band My Dear Disco will show off its new music video. Tickets are $7. CONCERT The woman has paid her dues: 12-time Grammy Award winner Emmylou Harris has more statuettes than most singer-songwrit- ers have albums. And at a ripe, silver-haired 68 years old, country's coolest grandmother is still touring as hard as ever. Go see her at the Michigan Theater tomorrow night with the Red Dirt Boys and Buddy Miller. Tickets start at $35 and the show kicks off at 7:30 p.m. A BAND MEMBER'S TYPICAL DAILY SCHEDULE: Sectionals are underway at Revelli Hall and Elbel Field. Students dis- sect their music with the other members of their section, targeting par- ticularly difficult measures. Students carrying bulky instrument cases start to trickle onto the practice field. They socialize with other students or play through a few measures and scales to warm up. Marching Band practice officially begins with the wind instruments arched around the 50-yard line for music warm- up and rehearsal. They play through scales and pre- pare their show music while the twirlers stretch and flag choreography is rehearsed nearby. The drum line, whose practice outside Rev- elli Hall could be heard since 4 p.m., joins the band, allowing for musical rehearsal with the full band. The band practices its pre-game routine. Twirlers and flag-wavers join in, bringing the entire band together. They form a larges 'M' on the field and practice their high-step march- ing while playing through "The Vic- tors" and "Varsity" multiple times. Rehearsal for the halftime show begins. Each person finds his or her spot on the field and patiently and metic- ulously marches the same course over and over while playing the accom- panying music until the director is satisfied. Then, the band continues on to the next set of movements. Band practice ends with announce- ments and one last round of "The Victors." Sections hud- die up for more specific announce- ments and maybe a final display of section pride.